do you have a hero......?

We were watching a movie a few nights back.....Invincible.....one of those "based on a true story" type movies.... about a guy named Vince Papale. Papale was a hero in South Philadelphia back in 1975 when he made it as a walk on with the Philadelphia Eagles. Great feel good movie.... against all odds, good guys win and they all live happily ever after. Enjoyed the movie....but.... enjoyed what the Lord the Lord showed me so much more.

For the first time ever, I saw our desperate need.... (our.....as in us.... all of us.... people...human beings)... for distractions from the humdrum of survival in our daily existence. Life is made up of a zillion little daily activities one would not describe as giving us some sort of rush.....or a mountaintop experience...... we get up, shower (hopefully), brush our teeth, get a cup of coffee, go to the bathroom, off to work, sometimes having to put square pegs in round holes for 10 hours.....and we are desperately looking for distractions.

Before I met the Lord, those distractions were booze, chewing on cigarettes, women, playing sports, pinochle... (that is the other card game for those of more recent generations)....and acting in little theater. Then after I met the Lord, those distractions changed.....now it was "going to meetings", passing out religious tracts, opening a Christian Book store, having a radio program, doing great exploits for God, trying to save the world....when that didn't work I pastored my own Church so I could save all the Christians that didn't seem to ever want to stop sinning..... that didn't work either!

The point of this is not that I am the most distracted person that ever lived..... it is simply that human beings need distractions from what we consider this boring, humdrum existence.....we need a hero, we need someone or something to live vicariously in so we can escape to stay sane! In South Philadelphia where football and booze are the distractions...one of their very own makes it.... their own Vince Papale is now a Philadelphia Eagle. Their is new meaning in life, someone to cheer for, something to live for beyond that necessity to get to work, try to earn enough to pay the bills, buy a few beers at the local bar with your buddies, keep you old car running and pay the rent this month.

This vicarious living thing is a basic human need. I never recognized that till the Lord showed it to me the other night. Back when I had my Epiphany at the fence in 1999 and realized how the only thing God ever wanted me to do was simply to have a relationship with Him.....I was suddenly free.....unbeknownst to old Philip...... (at least until I saw this thing)..... was that I now had my vicarious life in Him....... I had found my hero.... His name is Jesus!

There is an awesome perk that goes with that discovery..... it has to do with how all those things I used to think of as "boring and humdrum"?...... suddenly they all became normal, exciting, interesting, challenging........ ordinary life as designed by our creator....... and we can really enjoy it!

Oh my....I have gone on a bit, so I'll save the rest of that for next time.